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Tea party crashes the GOP?

by AirTalk

Marco Rubio speaks to attendees at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on February 18, 2010 in Washington, DC. Rubio is a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Florida whose small government message has resonated with tea party conservatives. Robert Giroux/Getty Images

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Cut taxes—or abolish the IRS? While Republicans have long called for smaller government, does the GOP platform square with tea party activists’ more radical propositions? From Newt Gingrinch’s updated Contract for America to the tea party-approved Contract from America endorsed by top conservatives at the CPAC convention last week, manifestos have multiplied as conservatives either tap or tamp down on grassroots ire. Wither the GOP? Will loosely affiliated groups of conservatives alter the Republican Party’s central goals and message?